At Issue: Are Fayette property assessments too high?

Joel Benton, chief appraiser for the Fayette County Board of Assessors, said his office has received 2,338 appeals out of approximately 43,000 assessments — nearly double the 1,256 appeals received last year. Fayette County’s property tax digest has risen 13 percent since 2016.

Former Peachtree City councilman and 2017 mayoral candidate Eric Imker addressed the Fayette County Board of Commissioners on May 25 to explain how he took his 2016 assessment appeal to Superior Court, and won. “Many of us are concerned about it,” he said. “There needs to be solutions for this year’s assessments.” County Attorney Dennis Davenport said that most appeals are settled before they reach the court stage. “Overall, the tax assessor’s office handles it very well,” he said.

If you’re a Fayette homeowner, how do you feel about your assessment this year? Did you take any action? Tell us at communitynews@ajc.com by Tuesday; replies may be published in print or online.

LAST WEEK: Is Decatur’s transportation vision also your vision?

There are at least three life certainties which almost everyone has a passionate opinion: death, taxes and … traffic.

Decatur’s about to initiate a 10-month itinerary of community input sessions for updating its transportation plan, first adopted in 2007.

That original plan wrought many changes on and along city streets over the past decade, with more to come. One of those is the Commerce Drive cycle track/lane reduction, whose construction begins this fall. During a May meeting Decatur commissioners received a petition with about 400 signatures opposing the project. Further, many claimed they had never even heard of the Commerce plan until recently.

So we asked, if you live in Decatur will you participate in the community input sessions? What suggestions will you offer? Do community input sessions even matter? And if you don’t live in Decatur, does its traffic keep you away altogether?

Here’s what some of you had to say:

My wife and I have lived adjacent to Decatur in Druid Hills for 40 years. We enjoyed Decatur for the first 30 years and now we avoid it like the plague for a variety of ever-increasing reasons with "traffic calming" being at the top of my list. If Decatur only wants bicyclists and pedestrians in its inner city, it is well on its way to achieving that "dream", which I regard as a "nightmare." Welcome to (the demise of) Decatur! — Joe Bleser

I'm very apprehensive about bike paths along Commerce Drive. Curves are too sweeping causing cars to hug curb stones, or to drift across lanes thus endangering bikers. The intersection at the CVS corner is too tight, especially on right turns. . Possible solution might be center lanes reserved and set apart for bikers in such a way so as to prevent intrusion by vehicles. — Alex Roetger

I have lived in Decatur for 20 years now, and I've seen city government on the whole do an amazing job planning the city's long-term growth. My take on listening sessions is that they give people with passionate views a place to feel heard. But honestly, I elect city officials to make the big decisions with more information and time than I have at hand. If citizens do not like the choices city officials make, vote. —Liz Williams

The taking away of two lanes on Commerce Drive is absolutely ridiculous, will lead to substantially increased traffic, more accidents and many including bikers and hopefully not fatalities. But, the city will do it anyway because in today's Decatur it is the "politically correct" thing to do. They will inconvenience 99% for the sake of 1%. This will not increase the number of biker commuters or MARTA riders. Drivers will find a way to get to work by cutting through neighborhoods streets. You ask, "do the community input sessions matter?" As a lifelong City of Decatur resident with many years of experience the answer is emphatically "NO!" It is a done deal, with the majority kept in the dark. They don't dare hold a public vote on this. —Ken Edmonds

I am not a citizen of Decatur— I live “just over the line” in Atlanta, but both my husband and I worked in Decatur for many years and Decatur HAS been my go-to-place for recreation (Decatur Rec), library use, and eating and shopping.

However, since the city began its bizarre parking scheme—punitive and predatory in my opinion—plus the "narrowing" of already crowded streets, I head to Toco Hills now for restaurants and shopping. I agree in principal with increasing bike lanes and pleasant sidewalks, but there's got to be a middle ground that also allows for sane car traffic management. — Susan Davis

Path Foundation and City of Decatur approved a path through an ecologically sensitive area without even visiting it … a portion would go through Dearborn Park, a DeKalb County park … [which is] one of the last natural undeveloped areas in the City of Decatur. There are two Blue Herons, several large Barred Owls, snapping turtles and much more in there.

For more information See Friends of Dearborn Park Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/FriendsOfDearbornPark/posts/1012182245560587 —Friends of Dearborn Park